> > The theory here is that documents can be rewritten 'on the fly' to> reference only those capabilities which the user has at hand.> > Further assume that I have a method of managing documents locally which > return portions of a document based on capability metrics.> > For example:> > I am a user, using Lynx on a VTxxx. When I make a request to the > server, Lynx also sends:> > User_Agent: Lynx 1.06 TEXT MAIL NEWS> > since these are the capabilities which Lynx running on my host supports.> > The server then retrieves the following document> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> <HTML>> <HEAD>> <TITLE>This is a document</TITLE>> </HEAD>> <BODY>> > #ifdef GRAPHICS> > # ifdef GIF> > <IMG HREF=(some gif file)>> > # elif JPG> > <IMG HREF=(some jpg file)>> > # endif> > #else> There is an inline graphic here which cannot be rendered > locally. It can be retrieved by hand as:> > # ifdef FTP> > ftp://hostname/dir/file> > # elif MAIL> > "/dir/file" from hostname> > by using the the ftp->mail gateway at Hostname with the > following commands:> Get blahblahblahblahblah> # endif> > > #endif> > </BODY>> </HTML>

I don't think that this would be a good way of accomplishing your goals.
The ".multi" extension used to serve documents of varying types would
be a better approach to the problem. If a link <img src="dinosaur.multi">
was used the client would attempt to retrieve it telling the server
what types it can handle. In the Lynx case it would say it could handle
".txt" types and could recieve a text description of the image in question.
Xmosaic would respond with ".gif" and ".xbm" types and would receive the
image. Other browsers may choose to download the picture and use an
external viewer to show the image and put a text box in to show where
the picture should have appeared. If an acceptable type is not available
then the client should respond with an appropriate message explaining
the problem, and pointing out that an image should have appeared "here".

I have been meaning to make Lynx image "aware" but have not had the
time to do so yet.